Ben Stokes identified as "main aggressor" in Bristol fight

The 27-year-old is accused of later punching Ryan Hale, 27, to the ground, before allegedly knocking out Ryan Ali, 28.

The Durham all-rounder is one of three men accused of fighting in Bristol on 25 September.

Mr Spure described seeing Stokes punch Ali, who was trying to get away, with a "clenched fist" in the road.

In a statement, Mr Spure said he had tried to separate Mr Stokes and Mr Ali, with the others continuing their behaviour behind him.

Jurors heard how Stokes said he acted in defence of himself, England teammate Alex Hale and Mr Barry and Mr O'Connor at all times, adding that they thanked him for protecting them.

Predictably and understandably not much of that talk will be about Stokes's cricket, but we should do some of that here now because there is no doubt that he will be missed by England this morning and in the coming days.

Ali allegedly used the bottle to threaten Mr Hales, before making contact with Mr Barry's arm. "He had a green T-shirt on". "One of them said something like "shut the f**k up or I'll bottle you".

Cunningham identified the two gay men as, William O'Connor and Kai Barry who stepped out of the nightclub and said: "the ginger guy" started mocking them.

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"The individual seemed to be the main aggressor or was progressing forward trying to get to another individual", he told the court.

The prosecution has described Barry and O'Connor as two "flamboyant, extrovert and openly gay" regulars at Mbargo.

"I decided at this point matters had become too serious to ignore and that I had to intervene to stop Ryan Ali", Stokes told police. "I can only guess I thought I was going to be attacked". And Stokes replied: "Because he was abusing my two friends for being gay".

When she told him to leave Mr. Stokes, who had been placed in a police van, the court heard that Mr. I was concerned for myself and others.

The doorman said Hales asked what had happened and, after being told, said to his team-mate: "Stokesy - don't do that".

Images released today show the injuries sustained by Ali and Hale after allegedly being attacked by Stokes, hours after England beat the West Indies in a one-day worldwide in the city.